Different Types of Triathlete Mindsets

Stage 1: No interest in doing any physical activity or challenge. So not really a triathlete and possibly harmful to your progress. Best avoided.

Stage 2: Characterised by a feeling of “my performance” is poor. Training and racing is a negative and it’s a battle to get round the session or even finish the race. You have no faith or belief in a system of improvement and you have tried that before. You feel convinced of your own theory of failure and want to protect it from discussion.

There is no initiative or passion in your training and either feel that you have to go through the motions at whatever cost, or find any excuse to avoid it. You are disconnected from any goals to improve due to a factor that you feel you cannot control.

This is evident in people who have either been better or have limited time to train and although they enjoy the social side of the sport, do not enjoy the training alone and will look to blame circumstance over effort.

Stage 3: The dominant characteristic is “I am great” and “I am better than others.” You need constant reinforcement by winning or improvement in data. Everything is a competition and the results are down to your own hard work and decisions. Losing or underperforming is down to a bad day or bad luck. The most contribution is by yourself and others who do not contribute as much are a disappointment. You like a set plan, criteria, measurable goals and need reinforcement of improvement in every session.

Stage 4: Collective responsibility for achievement and failure. We are great and we need to improve. There is pride in the team and what the team achieves and no set back is ever seen negatively. Improvement is continuous and not as a comparison to others. The enemy is not other athletes or other coaches but the challenge ahead. The tribe trusts in the decision of the leadership and are willing to step backwards to go forwards. The bigger the challenge, the more powerful the tribe becomes. We are centred around a common purpose.

You are not as good as your performance, you are as good as your potential improvement.